Homelessness

FAMILIES WHO ARE HOMELESS, NATIONALLY AND IN BALTIMORE, REPRESENT ABOUT ONE THIRD OF THE HOMELESS POPULATION.

Beyond homelessness.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME – UNLESS YOU DON'T HAVE ONE

According to the local Point-in-Time data survey, more than 3,500 men, women, and children are homeless in the Baltimore area on any given night. Families who are homeless, nationally and in Baltimore, represent about one third of the homeless population, and have been the fastest growing segment of the homeless population in recent years.

Imagine for a moment if you had no place to call your own…sleeping on the streets or in your car…couch surfing from friend to friend…no place to cook a meal…no bed for your child to sleep in…no place to relax and simply be with family…no possessions--except those you can carry with you. It’s hard to fully understand the trauma of homelessness and the tragic circumstances of those who experience it daily.

So, why are there so many people in this situation? The reasons are complex.

For some, the reasons include physical and mental disabilities, addiction, and inability to work. Those who fall into this category of homelessness experience long and repeated periods of homelessness, and are often referred to as “chronically homeless”.

For others who are low income and lack a network of support, the reasons include loss of a job, sudden illness, domestic violence, separation, or other crisis that causes them to fall behind on their bills, become evicted, and lose everything. Those who fall into this category of experiencing “episodic homelessness” face huge obstacles to regaining stability and housing, such as a lack of affordable housing stock in our community, health problems, lack of skills and education, unemployment, low wages or underemployment, poor credit, and large arrearages.

In addition to homelessness being traumatic for the adults, the long term, damaging effects on children are huge. Homeless children are more likely than their peers to have poor social skills, drop out of school, repeat a grade, perform poorly on tests, and suffer from learning disabilities and behavioral problems. Homeless children experience emotional problems at triple the rate of non-homeless children, including high rates of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and stress.

At St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore, we seek to minimize both the incidence and duration of homelessness, with the ultimate goal of ending it. The best way to prevent homelessness is to help people who may be on the brink of homelessness to stay in their home through eviction prevention, or emergency financial assistance to prevent evictions. But once someone becomes homeless, we are ready to step in quickly and help.

Minimizing the length of time individuals and families are living on the streets or in shelters is absolutely key to avoid the long-term, negative effects of homelessness on both adults and children. For this reason, re-housing is always the immediate and central focus of all of our homeless services.

For those who have experienced a crisis but are capable of sustaining housing, we employ best practices that involve short term interventions such as brief shelter stays to achieve stability, rapid re-housing, and shelter diversion services.

Our services provide a comprehensive response to homelessness

For those with a long history of homelessness and who, due to disabilities or other circumstances, are unable to be self-sufficient, we offer transitional and permanent supportive housing services.

All of our homeless services embrace a national best practice approach called “Housing First” which, as the name suggests, is based on the philosophy that a homeless individual’s first and primary need is to obtain stable housing, and other issues that may affect the household (addiction, unemployment, etc.) can and should be addressed once housing is obtained. We help each homeless individual and family address their barriers to housing, strengthen their health and well-being, and build their educational, employment, and financial assets so that they may achieve long-term economic self-sufficiency.

At St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore, our services provide a comprehensive response to homelessness that combines stable housing programs and supportive services that meet the unique characteristics and needs of each individual and family.

Our current homeless services programs are:

Beans & Bread
A homeless day resource program that serves 300 people daily. Using our daily meal service as a gateway to engage and encourage individuals to access additional services and resources available at the Center. Additional on-site services include respite, healthcare, showers, laundry, employment services, case management, housing referrals and placement, mail receipt, identification obtainment, and telephone access.

Frederick Ozanam House
A recovery program for homeless men that provides transitional housing and supportive services in a semi-independent living environment. On-site services include intensive case management, psycho-education, recovery support and life skills development, employment assistance and a continuum of substance abuse treatment. Clients may access additional services at Beans & Bread.

INNterim

St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore announced July 1, 2017 it will be acquiring the programs of Innterim Housing & Family Services (Innterim) which operates permanent and transitional housing services for homeless families in Baltimore County.

Sarah’s Hope shelters
Provide 24-hour emergency, short-term shelter for homeless families with wrap-around supportive services including meals, healthcare, case management, employment services, adult education classes, advocacy, housing placement and referral, and on-site children’s services including after-school programming and Early Head Start and childcare at the Weinberg Early Childhood Center through a partnership with PACT. There are two Sarah’s Hope family shelters: Sarah’s Hope, Mount Street located in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in Baltimore City (131 beds) and Sarah’s Hope, Hannah More located on Reisterstown Road in Baltimore County (85 beds). Both shelters accept intact or dual-parent families, families headed by single fathers or mothers, and families with teenage sons. The goal is for families to meet their goals while in the program, have a short term stay, and discharge to permanent housing.

Front Door
Arapid re-housing and shelter diversion program that provides intensive case management, short-term rental assistance and other support services to assist homeless families in regaining and sustaining permanent housing. Front Door serves 65 families in Baltimore City and 85 individuals and families in Baltimore County each year.

Cottage Avenue Community
A comprehensive Housing First transitional housing program for homeless families so that they can learn to live independently and successfully transition to permanent housing and long-term self-sufficiency. Families receive supportive services including case management, adult education, employment services, and access to mental health and healthcare services.

Parish Conferences
A network of 38 parish-based volunteer groups that provide eviction prevention and other financial assistance to help families in their local communities stay in their homes and avoid homelessness. Click here for a list of our Parish Conferences.

Help shelter and house homelesss individuals and families and put them on the path to self-sufficiency.

INNterim Services

NEWS

Empty Bowls 2018 - How Can You Help?

3/9/2018 12:00:00 AM EST

a week ago

Did you know that Maryland, although it is one of the wealthiest states in the nation, is home to more than 760,300 people who do not have enough to eat? Not only that, but 1 out of 8 Marylanders are food insecure (limited or uncertain access to adequate food ...

Front Door Program Receives $1 Million to Address Family Homelessness

12/21/2016 12:00:00 AM EST

1 years ago

Front Door Program Receives $1 Million to Address Family Homelessness

(Baltimore, MD) – St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore announced today it was awarded a $1 million grant from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a part of the City of Baltimore’s Continuum of Care ...

Sarah’s Hope Mount Street Gets A Playground

11/30/2016 12:00:00 AM EST

1 years ago

Families are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population in Baltimore. Often, they have no place to turn once they lose housing. Baltimore offers a severe shortage of family shelter capacity, which often causes families to be divided, with women, female children and adolescents going to women and children ...